Surviving a Friend's Juice Fast

Maybe it's the biz I work in, but whenever the topic of cleanses comes up, I first think soap and then think, count me out. Am I the only person who hasn't tried one, and has zero desire to? Not eating sucks. I dare you to tell me a lukewarm wheat grass, carrot, and beansprout shake tastes better a piping hot meal that requires silverware...and teeth!

Having caught the bug from her office mates, who were hopped up on nothing but green juices, S., a cleanse virgin, signed up for a three-day version from the same NYC-based company her colleagues used. (This service whips up all of your juices for the day and delivers them to your home or office in a one of those chilly cooler bags.) For the first two days, S. admitted to feeling "weak" and "high-strung." (I hypothesize that it has to do with this whole no-food thing.) By the end of Day Two, S. experienced a Stockholm Syndrome of sorts. While she initially winced at the swampy vegetable juices, she was soon salivating at the thought of the green stuff. "I was craving all of those vitamins!" she said. "It felt like a meal." By Day Three, S. was positively bouncing off the walls—in the good way. "I don't know if I'd passed the point of being hungry, or if I just knew it would soon be over, but I felt energized!" From that day through the next (when solids were reintroduced), S. said she felt "Absolutely incredible...centered...almost high."

Yowza! I didn't know whether to be envious, motivated, terrified, or a combination of all three. I asked her if she'd lost weight, and S. said that although she doesn't own a scale, she could tell she'd shed pounds. "The weight that was hard to lose in some areas came off."

"Awesome! But did the weight come back?" I asked, quietly making room in my fridge for an anticipated shipment of juices.

"Yes."

I slammed the fridge door shut. I felt completely defeated. S., however, a vision of perseverance, didn't seem too bothered. She's already psyching herself up for her next cleanse.